Overwatch 2 has finally reemerged at BlizzCon 2021, after a long silence. Blizzard has revealed a host of new details for the highly anticipated sequel to the beloved hero shooter, including new maps set in Rome and New York City. Blizzard has also just revealed some sleek new designs for fan-favorite characters McCree, Pharah, Reaper, and Widowmaker.
Details have been rather scarce since Overwatch 2 was announced back in 2019. Fans hopeful for a potential release of the game this year had their hopes dashed earlier this month when it was confirmed during an Activision-Blizzard that Overwatch 2 likely won’t launch in 2021.
Blizzard is vowing to be more forthcoming about Overwatch 2 going forward, however, with game director Jeff Kaplan saying that more information could be revealed in the coming months. In the meantime though, the official Play Overwatch Twitter has posted the new looks that some of the heroes of Overwatch will be rocking in the sequel.
Starting with Widowmaker, the assassin gets a slightly more armored and more tactical look, but she still retains most of her original design elements. The same is true for Reaper, as his new design is more streamlined, though he has lost his bandoliers. Pharah’s design is also rather similar to her original, except her hair is no longer visible, and her armor features more intricate details and a generally more angular design.
The character who has received the most change is McCree, who now has a longer beard, a more futuristic-looking poncho and a very different chest armor design. But most notably, McCree appears to have has had his skin tone lightened by a few shades, a change that some fans online are not very pleased with. One tweet in particular criticizing the change has over 7,000 likes, with many other tweets about it in the hundreds of likes.
Other characters who have had their redesigns for Overwatch 2 revealed prior to today include Genji, Lucio, Mei, Mercy, Reinhardt, Tracer, and Winston. In general, the purpose of the redesigns seems to be to show that the characters have aged and armored up a bit more, without changing them so much that it hurts a player’s ability to quickly recognize them during a match.
It was also confirmed at BlizzCon this year that the new single player Hero Missions will feature dynamic weather. Blizzard showcased a sandstorm on the Temple of Anubis map and, fittingly, a blizzard on Hanamura. Director Jeff Kaplan also stated that there will likely be a series of open and closed betas during the course of Overwatch 2’s development.
Overwatch 2 is currently in development by Blizzard.